Review of JCVD (2008) by Iqbal D — 07 Jul 2009

Inventive, exciting, intelligent and surprisingly moving, this examination of what it is to be a star pits an on-point Van Damme against everything the viewer expects of him, which truth be told is usually not much.

But here he rises above and beyond in a stellar turn that turns the idea of action star on its head. For whilst the storyline of a bungled robbery doesn't truly present any surprises what does is how Van Damme is able to convey so much through his scenes in court and then in his monologue three-quarters through.

For here is an injured man in more ways than one who like he says in his opening scene is forty-seven years old and can't do everything in one take anymore. There is a slight sense of style over substance at the hands of El Mechri but again one's left caring little about it as the last scene once again shows what a knockout performance Van Damme gives.

It's the nuances of the turn that make this and the film something special.